What If?
by SchizoCheese
Summary: DISCONTINUED; FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY. What if at Heliopolis, Rusty hadn't died and Kira was the one shot by Athrun? Very light shounenai.
1. Heliopolis in Flames

**Postscript: This is my first Gundam Seed/shounen-ai fanfiction, and, is obviously AU cause I totally warped the damn storyline. I've always wondered, what if, at Heliopolis, Murrue Ramius wasn't at the factory where the Gundams were being built, Rusty didn't die, and what if the person Athrun shot was Kira? Very, _very_ light shounen-ai (boy-boy love). Sorry if it seems a tad fruity. Also, if Rusty seems OOC, that's cause he was killed pretty damn early in the series. Not much to study there.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Seed, Kira and Athrun would be gay. **

**_Chapter 1: _****_Heliopolis_****_ in Flames_**

Kira Yamato, a sixteen year old Coordinator, couldn't believe what was happening to his home, the neutral colony Heliopolis, which was run by Orb. Just ten minutes earlier, the emergency lights had flashed on and off, and everyone was being evacuated. He had shoved a blonde girl into a shelter earlier, and now, he himself was running for dear life but not sure of exactly where he was running. He hoped wherever he was going, it just wouldn't be death. He bolted through a group of doors marked with a big "13", and wondered what that was.

Athrun Zala ducked the barrage of bullets from the people working on the mobile suits. Rusty cursed as he ran forward and a bullet whined past his helmet, narrowly missing his face. It landed with a loud _ping_ in the metal scaffolding beside him. He swiftly planted a bullet in the skull of the offender and moved on, getting closer to their objectives: Earth Alliance's new mobile suits, GAT-X303 Aegis and GAT-X105 Strike.

Kira puffed slightly as he came upon a scene of utter chaos: the area was in flames, and gunfire was being exchanged with rapid intensity. Several Orb technicians were lying in a pool of their own blood on the floor. Kira shuddered and swiftly clattered down the metal steps and made a beeline for the shelter at the opposite end. He yelped as bullets ricocheted around him and he ducked behind a hulking form. As he tried in vain to catch his breath, he looked at the form he was sheltering behind. _A…mobile suit?_

Rusty spotted a figure dressed in mostly black speeding towards the GAT-X303 and pointed that out to Athrun. The raven-haired boy nodded and ran towards it while Rusty clambered up to the cockpit of the GAT-X105. Most of the officers and technicians had either fled or were dead, so the whine of gunfire died down to a low thud. Athrun opened fire on the black figure, and saw him take a bullet to the shoulder. He saw the figure drop to one knee, clutching his left shoulder, and stared up at him with an icy glance. "I'm civilian, damn it!" Athrun froze and lowered the rifle. "K-Kira?"

Kira was examining the mobile suit in utter awe, and therefore forgot a battle was raging in the vicinity. Only when he heard the harsh click of a rifle did he turn and narrowly escape a bullet to the chest and it nailed him in his left shoulder. He yelped and stared defiantly at the ZAFT soldier. "I'm civilian, damn it!" To his immense surprise, instead of the soldier resuming fire, he lowered his rifle. "K-Kira? Is that you?" Kira's jaw dropped. "Athrun?" His astonishment quickly turned to anger. "What are you doing here? What are you doing destroying Heliopolis?! I thought you said you hated war!" Athrun blanched. Just then a loud explosion filled the area and he heard Rusty yelling at him through a walkie-talkie, and, after all Rusty had finished throwing vulgarities at him, tried to say, in the most calm and professional way, to "get your goddamn ass out of here". Athrun grinned half-hearted. Trust Rusty to be so blunt. "Not now, Kira," Athrun said, hoisting his injured friend up. "We have to leave this place." Kira didn't drop his vicious glare. "I hope you have a _very_ good reason for shooting me, Athrun Zala…" _Still the same, Kira…_ "Yes, well…" Athrun shook his head. "Later, get in there." He literally threw Kira into the cockpit of the Aegis and mentally slapped himself for that when he heard a loud yelp of pain.

"Athrun?!" Rusty's voice broke over the communication system of the Aegis. Athrun sighed and opened the video-link. "Let's get out of he-…who's _that_? A civilian?" Rusty yelled, blinking as he saw a boy in civilian attire with a bloody shoulder. Athrun bit his lower lip. "Uh…a Coordinator," Rusty softened slightly. "He's obviously civilian; what was he doing here…" Athrun rolled his eyes. "You're forgetting who told me to get my 'goddamn ass out of here'." "Gee, thanks, Athrun…" Rusty, beaten, finally shut up.

Both mobile suits broke through the roof of the factory, and immediately over their communication systems came the loud and colourful language of Miguel, a blonde Coordinator piloting a GINN and getting infuriated with a Mobile Armour, and at the same time, turning a brilliant shade of scarlet. Athrun, Kira and Rusty all sweat-dropped. "Athrun…is he _always_ like that?" Kira asked, now that the pain in his shoulder faded to a dull throb. "Unfortunately, yes," Athrun replied. "Miguel! Objective obtained, get the heck out of there before you explode." "Athrun! Rusty! Good jo-…_Oh you damned fly!_" Miguel's congratulations were cut short when the Mobile Armour overheard skimmed the GINN with a laser. "Miguel…just go already," Rusty said tiredly.

Yzak Joule grumbled. "Athrun and Rusty are taking their own sweet time," he muttered. Dearka Elthman leaned back and smirked at Yzak's impatience. Nichol Amarfi grinned. "_We_ got the easy ones, Yzak…besides, look, here they come," the green-haired boy gestured to the screen. Three dots. "Wha?" Dearka tried to see from his position but fell off his chair. He floated up into the air, turning slightly pink. In space, you didn't crash down onto the floor.

"Athrun?" Miguel's puzzled voice cracked over the communications. "What's that behind you?" "Its not a 'what', it's a 'who'," Rusty chipped in. "_What?_" "A civilian whom Athrun picked up back in Heliopolis," Rusty chuckled. Miguel squinted. Athrun was grinning. Kira, however, was finding this situation a little...tense. He huddled in a cramped corner of the cockpit, trying to make himself less conspicuous. Miguel's face broke into a smile. He put on an annoying voice. "Aww, how sweet…Athrun playing nanny to a widdle boy?" Kira buried his face in his arms. Athrun growled. "We're reaching Gamou," he snapped. "Shut up and think of what we should say to Commander Krueze."

**_Author's Note: And thus ends the first chapter of my Gundam Seed fanfiction! I swear…it felt weird to write this, and I'm sure I'll get flamed for making all of them OOC. Gah. By the way, Gundam Seed manga volume 1 has a little blurb with one of the artists saying Kira always has Athrun tied around his little finger. Now if _****that_ isn't a major metaphor for some serious off-screen activity I don't know what is. _**


	2. I Have Lost One World and Gained Another

**Postscript: Okay, onto the _second_ instalment of my fan-fiction! I had a whole effing lot of plot ideas popping into my head during Math lesson, and I figured some of them were pretty nice. So...enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Gundam Seed, sadly, does not being to Cheese.**

_**Chapter 2: I Have Lost One World and Gained Another**_

The sharp, crisp sounds of ZAFT boots echoed everywhere in the spaceship called the Gamou. Kira grew more and more apprehensive with each step, and a military personnel had given him a very funny look. Miguel couldn't help but chuckle at the civilian's plight. "Don't worry," he said jovially, clapping a hand on Kira's shoulder. "Ow!" responded the brown-haired boy. Miguel's face contorted into a puzzled look until he raised his gloved palm. "Oh, shit..." he said quickly, staring at the blood. "I'm _so_ sorry..." Kira winced a little. "Its...its not your fault," he said. Miguel was now curious. "How'd you get that wound?" the blonde queried. Rusty snickered. "What's so funny?" Miguel demanded. Obviously, something was being kept from him, and he was determined to find out what it was. Rusty tried to swallow his guffaws. "Athrun..." Rusty burst out laughing into full force, "Athrun _shot_ him!" Athrun turned pink, and suddenly, the floor became _very_ interesting. Miguel blinked, and starting laughing as well. "S-sorry," he apologized to Kira. Then he turned on Athrun. "Well now, its not like widdle Athrun to go around shooting civilians!" "How was I supposed to know?!" Athrun snapped back. "He...he was in the Morgenroete factory with the Gundams!" Miguel startled. "Wha-? Then, if you shot him, why didn't you leave him there?" Athrun took a deep breath. "Apart from me just ditching a wounded civilian, which would've persistently niggled my conscience," The raven-haired boy faltered at this point, "he...he's my friend."

"Captain Krueze, sir?" A private poked his head through the doors. "The pilots are here to see you, sir...but..." "But what?" Krueze said. "They...they have a civilian with them..." the private replied. "Send them in," Krueze said, carelessly gesturing. "Yes, sir!" The private saluted, and the doors shut with a hiss. Krueze had barely turned his head when the doors hissed open again, and in stepped the three pilots, who saluted. (Stinking military decorum.) Krueze scrutinized them. _Where's the civilian?_ Then, he spotted him – hiding behind the taller Athrun. "Report?" Krueze initiated. "Objectives obtained, sir!" Rusty said. "And...uh...Ath – I mean, um, that is, _we_ rescued a civilian..." Krueze pretended to be surprised. "Step forward." Athrun gently nudge Kira in front of him. Kira stared at the floor. "Are you a Natural or a Coordinator?" Krueze asked bluntly. Kira kept his eyes riveted to the floor. "C-Coordinator..." Krueze smiled. "Good," he said.

"Ow, ow, ow! Not so tight!" Kira whined while Athrun wound the bandage around his arm. "Would you rather bleed to death?" His friend fixed him with a stern look. "But..." Kira's voice was cut off when the doors opened, and Rusty stuck his head in. "You know that Earth Alliance battleship, the Archangel?" he panted. "Yes," Athrun answered whilst Kira just looked blank. "It's just been detected in Heliopolis," Rusty continued, wheezing less now, "and...Commander Krueze wants us to go back in there and smash it to smithereens, apparently." _"What?!" _Kira yelled. "But...but Heliopolis will be damaged in the crossfire! And my friends...they're still in there!" "No-can-do, Kira," said Rusty regretfully. "Orders are orders...but we'll try not to damage the colony...if it makes you feel any better?" Kira sighed. "Oh...alright..."

A few minutes later, the ZAFT boys were finding it almost impossible not to damage the colony. "Gah! Rusty, this is impossible!" Miguel yelled. "How can we _not_ damage Heliopolis, you tell me?" The Mobile Armour that the Archangel had was being relentlessly annoying, and furthermore, the Archangel had tons of firepower and very skilled gunners. "But we promised Kira," Athrun said softly, spiralling to avoid a beam fired by the Variant cannon and swore. "Look, Athrun-" Miguel did a loop-the-loop, "I know he's your friend, but if we don't fire we're dead meat!" Athrun sighed. "Well...if we have to fire...let's try to minimize damage." The other two agreed. Just then, Rusty let out a stream of extremely colourful language. _"What?" _Miguel said. "Damn...the Commander just arrived." "Shit." Rusty fired a laser at the Mobile Armour and succeeded in destroying one of the many pods that the pilot used to fire at them. "Commander Krueze?!" Athrun yelped. "Looked like you needed some help," the familiar drawl came across the communicators. "The Earth Alliance's new battleship really is something..." He depressed a button and a beam like the Archangel's Lohengrin was released from his Mobile Suit's rifle. The Archangel avoided the shot, but it hit the colony structure. The three pilots stifled their shocked gasps as the colony of Heliopolis slowly crumbled.

Up in Gamou, Kira watched Heliopolis from the window in his room...then, he didn't believe his eyes as the colony started to break apart and escape pods flew into inky emptiness of space.

_**Author's Note: "Yatta!" Finally, I managed to get Chapter 2 done! I know, I know, I totally suck at writing battle scenes, I'm so sorry ( Next chapter comes the shounen-ai part everyone (I hope) likes! Hmm. Maybe I should rewrite all fifty episodes of Gundam Seed. Yay? **_


	3. Mending Hearts

**Postscript: -rubs hands together with glee- Alright, this chapter contains some fluffy-super-light shounen-ai _hints_ and therefore, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Oh, I wish...**

**_Chapter 3: Broken Promises, Mending Hearts_**

Athrun's jaw gaped; Heliopolis was now in ruins. Thank God the video-communications were off otherwise Krueze would be questioning his pilots as to why, upon Heliopolis blowing up, they had a flabbergasted look on their faces. The Archangel make a quick getaway. Rusty swallowed as Krueze gave the signal to return. Oh boy...Kira was _so_ going to hate them.

"Why did you destroy Heliopolis?!" Kira yelled. "You _promised_ to try to avoid hitting it!" "It wasn't our fault!" Miguel yelled back. "It was the Commander's!" Kira realized Miguel was right; he _had_ seen the Commander go out in a lethal looking mobile suit. Sure, these people were ZAFT, but they still had honour. Athrun rested a hand on Kira's uninjured shoulder. "Kira...I'm sorry." "Saying 'sorry' won't solve anything, Athrun," the brown-haired boy said icily. "Heliopolis – my _home_ is gone...I don't know if my friends made it out or not..." Rusty decided that now was the time for physical action; he grabbed both Athrun and Miguel by the collars of their flight-suits and yanked them both outside. _Thank God for zero-gravity. _Rusty knew, if he had tried this elsewhere, he'd have lost half his teeth already.

Athrun was cursing. It was already well-past midnight and he still couldn't sleep. It was just the fact that Rusty's snores sounded worse than an old car; it was the fact that his Coordinator senses were hearing something else than the rattling snorting sounds issuing from Rusty's mouth. Athrun gingerly tiptoed out the door. Despite the fact Rusty snored like that, a minor sound was still apt to rouse him. Athrun poked his head out into the corridor and listened. It sounded like someone was crying. Making sure the door shut quietly, Athrun padded down the corridor and almost collided with the night-watch personnel, who was sleeping on duty, leaning on his rifle. Athrun rolled his eyes; this guy snored worse than Rusty!

He heard the crying go louder; he was headed in the right direction. He heard a door hissing open and his heart nearly froze in his chest when he saw Raww le Krueze exiting the bridge. He pressed himself into a dark corner and waited for him to float pass. To his utter dismay, Raww stopped. _Oh please, just move on!_ Raww uttered a small, "Hmm," and finally moved on. Athrun let out his breath and double-checked that Krueze wasn't going to suddenly whip around.

The source of the crying was Kira's room. Athrun gingerly opened the door. "Kira?" he whispered into blackness, and his eyes slowly adjusted. Kira was huddled in a corner of his bed, sniffling. The boy had his knees drawn up and was staring blankly over them. "Kira?" Athrun tried again, louder. Kira's head came up with a startled snap. "A-Athrun?" he mumbled. He felt the creak of bedsprings as Athrun sat down beside him. "What's wrong?" "Everything," Kira snuffled lamely. Athrun blanched; he'd forgotten that Heliopolis had just been blasted to itty-bitty pieces by Raww le Krueze. (Damn him.) "Kira..." Athrun said softly, "I'm sure your friends made it out safe and sound." "How can you be so sure?" Kira snapped viciously. "You've...you've never even _met_ them..." He was cut off when he felt arms encircling him in a hug. "Don't think about such things now, Kira," Athrun said. Kira relaxed in his friend's warmth; he snuggled closer and stopped crying gradually. Kira stifled a yawn. "But what am I going do now...?" "Hush," Athrun said, stroking Kira's hair. "Just go to sleep." Kira obeyed; he _was_ rather sleepy. And when Athrun heard the soft, deep breathing that meant his best friend was asleep, he planted a kiss on Kira's cheek. "Sweet dreams..."

Rusty awoke rather early; at five thirty to be precise. He rolled over in bed. _Thud._ "Damn," he muttered, rubbing his back. "I've got to stop sleeping so close to the edge..." Then he noticed Athrun was missing. "Eh...where's that idiot gone..." Hauling himself off of the floor and throwing on something decent (he didn't want to get reprimanded again), he set off through the still-dark corridors in search of Athrun.

"Darn it...where _is_ he?" Rusty was beating himself about the head mentally. He'd checked all the usual places, he'd asked Miguel and got a pillow to his face; he'd asked Yzak, Dearka and Nichol; the first two were less than civil to him but at least Nichol was able to give him a coherent answer without flinging a pillow or some other object at him. Something clicked in Rusty's mind; what about Kira? Floating down the corridor, he gently eased the door open. "Kir-" He hadn't even finished when he saw the scene in front of him. Rusty sighed happily and shut the door. _Aww...that was so sweet. _He decided to risk another pillow attack and tell Miguel what happened.

"Aww! Really?" Miguel stopped throwing pillows at Rusty. "Yes, really," Rusty said. "And don't you go in there and wake them up." "Heh...that's something to badger Athrun about later today," Miguel's eyes gleamed with a wicked scheme. "Don't you dare," Rusty warned. "Or I'll..." He stopped mid-sentence, and threw a pillow into Miguel's face.

**_Author's Note: Hmm, yay, Chapter 3 completed, I tried my best with the shounen-ai hints, hope they don't suck donkey balls, and I think the ending was just kinda bullshit. Oh well. Anybody have any idea what mobile suit I should make Kira-kun pilot? _**


End file.
